Railroad car wheel construction



Oct. 15, 1963 w. J. KASTNER RAILROAD CAR WHEEL CONSTRUCTION Filed July 10, 1962 Walter J Kasmer INVENTOR. BY waafizm.

aadfiawey fi fiw United States Patent 3,107,115 RAILROAD CAR WHEEL CONSTRUCTION Walter J. Kastner, 129 Willow Drive, Berwick, Pa. Filed July 10, 1962, Ser. No. 208,741 2 Claims. (Cl. 295-31) This invention relates to a novel and useful railroad car wheel and more specifically to a railroad car wheel primarily designed for the purpose of affording a smoother ride while at the same time extending the life expectancy of railroad rails and the railroad car wheels.

Railroad car wheels presently in use are constructed of steel and roll along relatively smooth steel rails. However, the adjacent ends of railroad rail sections are sometimes spaced apart, and each time a steel railroad wheel rolls from one rail onto another rail which is spaced slightly from the first, a clicking sound is produced and the end of the rail on to which the wheel is rolling is struck sharply by the wheel resulting in what is known as rail end batter. This clicking sound and rail end better, when multiplied by the hundreds of car wheels which exist in a single train, causes a considerable amount of noise and results in the necessity of having to frequently replace rail sections.

In addition, flat spots can develop on the outer periphery of steel railroad car wheels if, during an emergency stop, the wheels are braked to a standstill before the train car has completely stopped. As a result of the thinline contact of the metal railroad wheel on the rail over which it is traveling, a plurality of flat spots can be caused to be formed on a railroad wheel if the wheel is repeatedly braked and slid along a steel rail. The formation of flat spots on a railroad car wheel increases the rolling noise of the wheel as well as rail batter.

In addition to the flat spots of a railroad car wheel causing additional noise and increasing rail batter, they cause each axle and wheel assembly to be excessively vibrated which in turn shakes the entire railroad car and in some instances causes premature wheel bearing failure.

Finally, the thinline contact of a railroad car wheel moving from one wheel section to another, the numerous flat spots formed about the periphery of a railroad car wheel and the vibration of the axle and wheel assembly caused by these flat spots in turn causes the roadbed over which the train car is travelling to be excesively vibrated. As excessive vibration of the roadbed can cause the latter to shift and settle, it is extremely important that the vibration of a railroad car wheel moving over a rail be kept at a minimum.

It is therefore the main object of this invention to provide a new and useful railroad car wheel which will greatly reduce the noise normally associated with a railroad car wheel rolling over a rail section, greatly reduce the formation of fiat spots about the periphery of the railroad car wheel and substantially eliminate all vibration of a railroad car wheel rolling along a rail section.

A further object of this invention, in accordance with the immediately preceding object, is to provide a railroad car wheel whose surfaces normally disposed for engagement with the rail sections over which they travel may be readily replaced and/ or renewed without necessitating the replacement of the entire car wheel and the removal of the car wheel from the car on which it is mounted.

A final object of this invention to be specifically enumerated herein is to provide a railroad car wheel in accordance with the preceding objects which will conform to conventional forms of manufacture, be of simple construction and dependable in operation so as to provide a device that will be economically feasible, long-lasting and substantially trouble-free in operation.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details 3 ,107,115 Patented Oct. 15, 1963 "ice of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view of a railroad car wheel constructed in accordance with the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially upon a plane passing through the axis of rotation of the car wheel illustrated in FIGURE 1 and with the resilient band and inserts removed;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view similar to that of FIGURE 2 but showing the resilient band and inserts mounted ,on the wheel and the wheel disposed in rolling engagement with a rail section illustrating the manner in which the resilient band is extruded into the expansion grooves adjacent the lower periphery of the train wheel;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken substantially upon the plane indicated by section line 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of the car wheel similar to that shown in FIGURE 3 but showing the resilient band in an uncompressed state.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, the numeral 10 generally designates a railroad car wheel constructed in accordance with the instant invention and which includes a hub portion generally referred to by the reference numeral 12 from which an annular rim portion 14 is supported. The annular rim portion includes a generally cylindrical outer surface 16 and a radially outwardly projecting circumferential flange 18* which projects outwardly from one end of the cylindrical surface 16.

The cylindrical surface 16 has a circumferential groove 20 formed therein and it will be noted that the circumferential groove 20 is spaced from the opposite ends of the cylindrical surface 16.

The inner face 22 of the flange 18 has an annular dovetailed groove 24 formed therein and an annular antifriction insert 26 is seatingly engaged within the dovetailed groove 24- and projects slightly outwardly therefrom for engagement with the inside face 27 of the train rail 28 over whose upper surface 30 of the car wheel 10 is rolling as viewed in FIGURE 3 of the drawings.

A plurality of laterally spaced annular expansion grooves 32 are formed in the bottom surface 34 of the groove 20. A resilient band 36 extends circumferentially about the rim 14 and is seated in the groove 20'. A plurality of metallic elongated inserts 38 are bonded to the outer surface 40 of the band 36 and extend transversely thereof in side-by-side relation. The inserts 38 extend outwardly of but are partially seated within the groove 29. In this manner, as the wheel 10 rolls along the rail section 28, the segments 38 disposed at the lower periphery of the wheel 10 are urged radially inwardly as they come in contact with the rail 28 and extrude the resilient band 36 into the expansion grooves 32. Accordingly, it may be seen that each of the segments 38 is mounted for limited radial movement of the wheel 10.

As can best be seen from FIGURES 4 and 5 of the drawings, each of the segments 38 has a plurality of longitudinally spaced transversely extending outwardly opening cooling grooves 44 formed therein.

In operation, as the wheel '10 rolls over the rail 28, the segments 38 contacting the rail 28 extrude the resilient band 36 into the expansion grooves 32 as hereinbefore set forth while the anti-friction insert 26 is disposed for engagement with the inner face 27 of the rail 28 in the event the railroad car on which the wheel 10 is mounted is being pulled around a curve. Accord- 3 ingly, direct metal-to-metal contact between the rail 23 and the wheel 10 is eliminated.

As can best be viewed in FIGURE 4 of the drawings, the contact of the wheel 10 with the rail 28 is not a thinline contact as it would be if the Wheel were constructed of solid metal but is a path of Contact extending transversely of the Wheel 16 which is at least as wide as four or five of the inserts 38. In this manner, it may be seen that the amount of force directed downwardly on the rail 28 by the wheel 19 per unit of area is greatly reduced. Preliminary tests have shown a that the downward pressure per unit of area efifectedon the rail 28 by the wheel it is less than one one-tenth of the force per unit area eiiected by a conventional railroad car wheel on a rail. Therefore, it may be seen that not only is the noise, vibration, wheel and rail wear as Well as vibration of the roadbed reduced, but the area of contact of the Wheel 10 with the rail 28 is multiplied many times thereby affording greater traction and enabling railroad cars equipped with wheels constructed in Ag, equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. A solid metallic railroad wheel having a with a wide circumferential groove, said groove having bonded therein a band of elastomeric material, a ring of separate rectangular bars being bonded to said elastomeric material in side-by-side relation in a direction essentially parallel to the axis of the wheel and being partially depressed into said groove and forming a complete enclosure for said elastomeric material, said circumferential groove being provided in its base with small expansion grooves to provide for extrusion of said elastomeric material therein under wheel loading.

2. A solid metallic railroad wheel according to claim 1 wherein said ring of separate rectangular bars is provided with circumferentia'lly-extending, outwardly-opening, cooling grooves on the outer side and is adapted to conform to the shape of a rail upon which said wheel rolls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 489,496 Parmelee Ian. 10, 1893 2,006,495 Bourdon July 2, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,046,755 France July 15, 1953 

1. A SOLID METALLIC RAILROAD WHEEL HAVING A RIM WITH A WIDE CIRCUMFERENTIAL GROOVE, SAID GROOVE HAVING A BONDED THEREIN A HAND OF ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL, A RING OF SEPARATE RECTANGULAR BARS BEING BONDED TO SAID ELASTOMERIC MATERIAL IN SIDE-BY-SIDE RELATION IN A DIRECT ESSENTIALLY 